


love like you

by headedling



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Mortal, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Graduation, M/M, Misunderstandings, Pining, a lot of misunderstandings, best friends to enemies to lovers, everyone is 17-18 years old unless otherwise stated, jason and piper are best friends, leo and nico are also best friends, minor Percabeth, minor frazel, non demigod au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:07:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27229327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/headedling/pseuds/headedling
Summary: the seven want to hold a special after-graduation party. of course, they ask Nico to help them with organization. as well as Will Solace, Nico's former best friend, who he hasn't talked to in three years.this is even messier than you think it is.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo & Will Solace, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	love like you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, the name is inspired by that song from steven universe.
> 
> also i feel i should mention that im not american, so i have no idea how US graduation actually works. i did my best researching stuff, but it still might be inaccurate. if i think something might be unclear, i will leave an explanation in notes.
> 
> one more think - if you see something and think "woah, that reminds me of skam", that thing is 99% sure is inspired by skam, though this work is not skam au, i just love writing the parallels lmao

“what is _he_ doing here?” groaned Nico as he pushed his phone on the sheets of his bed.

“whomst?” immediately asked him Hazel without raising her head from the phone.

“honey, we've been through this," Nico said, obviously faking his annoyance, “you have to stop using Twitter slang every five seconds.”

Hazel just rolled her eyes, turning off her phone.

“what are you gonna do? cry to Jason?” she laughed it. Nico really loved his step-sister, but introducing her to the internet after years of all girls private school with no phones allowed was the biggest mistake in Nico's life. well, maybe not the biggest, but definitely a mistake.

“i'm juss sitting here,” said Jason, that traitor. “anyway, who were you talking about?”

“Will the-fucking-medicine-nerd,” muttered Nico. he couldn't believe his friends betrayed him like that, adding his sworn enemy to the graduation party chat. why would they do that to him?

“god, what is it with you and Solace again?” oh, that's why. he might had never explicitly explained he and Will's relationships. well, what had remained of them. “he's a nice guy, and he knows his shit. we need his help, that's for sure.”

“yes, but he's not the only nice guy at school. you haven't added Leo, and he's our best friend, by the way.”

“come on, Nico, we want no dead bodies at the party, right? Leo is,” Jason trailed off, trying to find the right words. “not the right person to plan big events. we've heard him talking about fireworks twice, and we don't even have enough money for fireworks nor enough space to set them. not to mention he turned the invitation off-”

“bullshit,” Nico cut him off. “you've told him _the committee_ was just about budget and making agreements with teachers.”

“which isn't exactly false, Neeks. it is about it as well.”

“that's why you are throwing a party for us this friday, yep.” Nico huffed, tired of the conversation.

“don't change the subject, brother mine. why do you hate Will so much? isn't he like.. the sweetest guy in the universe?” Hazel decided to hammer the nail in the coffin.

Nico slammed his head into pillow, showing his lack of interest in the further conversation.

“don't be shy, spill the tea,” he felt tickles on his sides, and couldn't help but raise his head, trying to stop Hazel.

“it's uhm,” actually, Nico had never talked about this before. Jason and Hazel both were newcomers, and he was pretty sure Percy and Annabeth didn't know a thing about the situation either. what was the point of digging in this now? stuff happened between them was in the past, and nothing seemed to be changing. “nothing, he's just super annoying. and i’m still pissed that we don't have Leo in our chat.”

“dude, you were the one who suggested to prohibit Leo from breathing anywhere near the graduation party.”

“that was a stupid joke which i made malfunctioning on three hours of sleep and two monster energies. aight, it's about 10 pm, you must leave now.”

“but i live here..” started Hazel.

“yep, and you have your own room. and Jason has his own house,” he pushed his friends off the room, smiled politely and waved them goodbyes as he closed the door.

“Neeks, what the fuck?”

“sorry, really tired, need to sleep. see ya tomorrow!” said Nico, though he wasn't entirely sure they heard them. which definitely was not his problem.

if there was anything he didn't want to do on that lovely evening, it would be having a Will Solace breakdown. in fact, he had successfully passed three weeks without them, and he wasn't planning on giving up just yet.

thoughts in his head didn't plan the same, apparently. he let himself dwell on it a little, just a little, but as soon as his mind produced “maybe that chat was a good reason to talk to Will and sort things out” Nico got his headphones and blasted his favorite soothing playlist.

the truth was that Nico missed Will’s presence, even if it had been three years without him. it was like some essential part of him disappeared and never came back. he still had friends who cared about him, but it was different with Solace. they had something special, him and that boy.

not that it mattered. what’s done was done. Solace was in the past.

Nico hated it.

he was sitting on a red beanbag chair, desperately wanting that stupid meeting to be over already. he still had no clue what he was doing there. Jason and Hazel made it clear they needed Nico to be one of the few people planning their graduation party. why though? that was a mystery.

not far from his left was sitting Will Solace. he looked... well, not that Nico paid much attention, but Will looked good. he was in his usual black jeans and a light green t-shirt which made him look like a nurse. which, considering his undying love for medicine, made sense. Will didn't look nervous, but he was doing that leg bouncing thing, and Nico couldn't help but peep the rainbow sole of his Converse shoes. not that he gave any meaning to that. he was rather busy.

he was listening to Hazel's speech about how important it was to leave a school with "a big boom" (and yet they didn't want Leo to take part in all of that, huh?) and how difficult that might be considering last year's graduates, who somehow managed to rent a whole water park for themselves and spend a night there.

unfortunately, his ADHD didn't give a shit about any of that, so he started zoning out. then, before he knew, everyone started packing their things.

“what's happening?” asked Nico, yawning. god, he wished he were at home. he really needed to take a nap if he wanted to be able to do his homework later that evening.

“bro,” Jason patted his back, “the meeting is over already. so, how do you feel?”

“isn't it exciting?!” joined the conversation Hazel. “god, i can't wait for the brainstorm this friday!”

“ohh,” but for her happy smile, Nico would say something sarcastic. he genuinely didn't want to upset her. “yes, i can admit it was.. uhm... cool. yes, cool. what is the brainstorm though?”

“you haven't listened at all, have you?” frowned Hazel. he cursed himself, and his ADHD, and his inability to concentrate, and his lack of intere-

“he's just probably not used to meetings like that, Haze,” god save Percy Jackson, who put his hand on Nico's shoulder and smiled at the boy as he continued, “on my first swimming meeting i was really lost, and now im the captain of the team. things get better.”

“you were lost, Seaweed Brain, because your brains are, in fact, made of anything but braincells. i have no idea why they let you be in charge,” seeing Annabeth and Percy having their daily playful quarrel soothed Nico's nerves somehow. maybe it was that even if they fought a lot, they never truly meant those things (except for seaweed brain pet name, though, because Percy was in fact an insufferable dumbass). it was their way to flirt and show their affection to each other. how could one not find it sweet?

“sorry, Nico,” Hazel didn't look exactly convinced nor guilty, “but tell me if all of this is too much for you next time, will ya? i swear i don't wanna put a lot of pressure on you.”

“that's fine, sis,” he tried to joke it off, and the attempt was successful. the girl smiled at him and left a small kiss on his cheek as he blushed.

it was when Nico noticed his old friend standing in the doorway, and for a brief moment their eyes locked. before he could dwell on it more than he wanted to, Nico noticed how sad the other boy looked. even hurt, maybe. there was something in Will's eyes he couldn't put his finger on. it was the same look Will gave him just as they stopped being friends. regret, maybe?

except there was no way Will regretted it. he was the one who dumped Nico, and he had no right to look at him like that. Nico broke the eye contact, and Will hastily turned away, leaving the room. just like then, the blonde boy backed up, that ratty coward.

“Nico!” Leo waved his hand in front of Nico's face. “are you gonna eat your sandwich, or…”

he was in a canteen. hell, he even managed to get his sandwich out of his bag. he had some serious dissociation issues, didn't he?

Nico sighed as he handed over the sandwich to his best friend. he wasn't hungry, anyway.

“so, about that brainstorm meeting on friday,” said Hazel, trying to hide the concern in her voice. Nico tried to avoid any eye contact with her. “we decided that having just a usual party was rather impractical, so before we have some fun we will try to think of the best after-graduation party idea. oh, also it's our place. you don't mind that, brother dear?”

did he mind? well, most of their parties were held at their place, he was used to it. but the thought having Will Solace there made his stomach twitch. he probably made a face, because he saw Hazel frowning.

“i mean, we were definitely going to end up at our house, just like we usually do,” he heard himself saying. where was that coming from? he had no idea. “don't look like that, Haze, i've promised you i would tell you if something bothered me.”

Hazel just shrugged it off. the rest of the dinner break was peaceful, just a usual mix of percabeth arguments and Leo's arsonist ideas considering the party. wait, Leo?

“now that we apologized to Leo for not adding him to that chat from the day one, there's no way you can avoid that one sensitive topic of yours,” casually dropped Hazel, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

it was friday, and Nico with Hazel were setting up the tables for the brainstorm thingy they had later that evening. they had settled for the round table so everyone could see each other. it wasn't that hard to put three tables together, but they couldn't find the best spot, so they had been moving tables back and forth for the last half of an hour. which was just ridiculous considering the small size of their shared apartment.

“have no idea whatcha talking 'bout,” mumbled Nico while his mind was trying its best to find another good topic for conversation.

“i'm not buying it. you aren't as subtle as you think you are. you always throw those languishing looks every time Will Solace is brought up, but none of us knows what it's about.”

“have you at least invited Leo to the party?” that was Nico's miserable attempt to change the subject. the look on Hazel face made it clear he weren't going anywhere with that one.

“yep, and he's added in the chat. now, would you care to elaborate on something actually important?”

“why do you try so hard to read into things which aren't even there?” that came off really rude, but Nico just wanted to have as least Solace-ish things tonight as he could get.

Hazel just gave him a tired look and sighed. she sat on the edge of the table, letting her brown hair down. oh, this was about to be a very long conversation.

“Nico, i care about you that much. i know that you have trust issues or something,” Nico was about to disagree, but she raised a finger to show that she wasn't done yet, “and if you don't feel like talking about Will, so be it. but as an honorable member of this chat, you have all the rights to feel comfortable and safe. just one word from you and i will kick Will Solace out and find a good explanation for it. so will everyone else here, actually. you come first, Nico, and it was always like this. we can make this graduation the best in the world without Solace, but it will be the complete fiasco without you.

Nico felt the tears forming. he knew Hazel meant every word she said, yet he couldn't understand why she would feel that way about him. why would anyone do? Percy was the captain of the swimming team, Annabeth was the smartest girl at school, Jason and Piper had that token mlm and wlw solidarity friendship everyone couldn't help but adore, Hazel was one of the most diligent students, Frank was the best team leader. even Leo, his (new) best friend, was famous for his pranks. not that everyone liked Leo, but he was known of. and what about Nico? people at school didn't talk to him that much, they preferred to avoid him. he was that one emo kid no one cared about nor remembered after graduation. no one would invite him to the high school reunion twenty years later, no one would be wondering how he was doing in his life? no one even asked him if he had gotten into college.

so why would they care that much about him? why would they want him to be in that committee? he hadn't even said a word on the last meeting, his contribution to the cause was nonexistent.

“i,” started Nico, but then the siblings got startled by the loud knock on the door.

Hazel immediately got up, going to unlock the door. she asked "who?" and they heard their friends cheering outside. Hazel looked at Nico, raising her eyebrow in a question.

“just one word, brother.”

“i heard you,” waved Nico off, trying to sound convincing. Hazel gave him another look and let their friends in.

the evening was fine. as planned, all of his friends plus he-who-must-not-be-named had a brainstorm thing. it was a mess but in a good way. they just yelled out different ideas for the celebration, but none of those could be fulfilled. honorable mentions were: Annabeth's idea to split into groups and try to build the reduced copy of their favorite US architecture buildings and then to go to see the winner's one in real life (they were daydreaming about it for fifteen minutes until someone mentioned that not everyone could afford going to another state); and Percy's idea to rent a beach house accompanied by Piper's suggestion to pull off a fashion show for the outfits they would have to do only from the things they could find on the beach.

then Will Solace made a quite true point: they were supposed to organize a fun party not for the nine of them, but for the rest of their classmates. there were at least forty other graduates in their year, and undoubtedly there were people who couldn't care less for architecture or fashion shows. everyone else hummed in agreement, and then they spent another thirty minutes before they gave up and ordered pizza, getting drinks. Percy asked some older guys to get them beer, and Nico and Hazel had some secret reserves in their house as well. Piper turned on party mix playlist, and Leo, screaming some far from innocent things, made all of them dance.

as fun as it was, Nico didn't really stir to participate in any party activities. he liked to be just a guy with only one bottle of beer sitting on the couch enjoying the view. the view wasn't as pleasing as always, though.

he watched Will and Piper talking to each other, excitedly gesturing. he had made her laugh at least ten times, all of them ending with Piper wiping off tears of joy. Nico remembered what it felt like – to have a time of his life with Will, but he decided not to think about it.

then he watched Will and Percy playing beer pong, except he was quite sure Annabeth switched the beer with the apple juice, but no one seemed to care. they laughed a lot, too, and that made Nico really jealous. he could hardly remember the last time he let himself have genuine fun with friends. he preferred to distance himself, unaware of his own reasons. what was it, again? Hazel said he had "trust issues or something". was it true? yeah, you could say that.

he also watched Will and Leo dance together, and that made Nico' heart ache. Will was a good dancer, thanks to Nico's playstation and "just dance" game. he easily swayed back and forth, his hair bun got messed up during the dance so bad most of his blond medium-length strands fell free and was following the boy's movements. it was mesmerizing to watch. he felt himself blushing and looked away, unfortunately locking the eyes with Hazel. she gave him a knowing look and smiled. oh, she definitely got the wrong idea.

to avoid any “oh so that's _why_ you're hating on him” conversation he got up from the comfortable couch in the corner of the room and retreated to the balcony.

cool march evening's air was comforting. Nico decided to spend here a little more time. he liked the silence of his peaceful neighborhood at night. he felt free, like no one was expecting him to be a funny friend who would make them laugh, or support the conversation, or dance till they both couldn't breathe. people shouldn't expect much from him, really. the bar for "Nico's contribution to the society" was much higher than he could bear.

frankly, Nico really wanted to be that person. he knew he would have enjoyed doing thing normal people did. he definitely could be something Will was. he just didn't think letting people in his life was the option. he noticed the tendency of people leaving him soon enough after he let them in: his mom, Bianca, Will... maybe he had abandonment issues, so what? it wasn't his fault he was so fucked up he-

“lovely evening, isn't it?” he heard painfully familiar voice on his left. Nico turned his head to meet Will's gaze.

the boy was red, desperately trying to catch his breath as the sweat streamed down his face. Nico smelt the strong scent of alcohol. there was no doubt Will was drunk, maybe so drunk he would be really sick the following morning.

“uhm, yeah,” was all Nico could choke out. he wasn't ready for any conversations.

“i just wanted to say,” Will's speech was interrupted by a hiccup, “that i really missed this. you know, like, this,” he gestured at space around them.

“we barely talked today, Solace,” gulped Nico. he sounded really, really pathetic.

“well, it is nice to be around you,” Will hiccuped again. and moved a bit closer, which caused Nico’s panic. “i mean, like, uhm... i wanted to say that-”

“Will, is anyone taking you home tonight? you are wasted, dude,” interrupted him Nico. he knew his eyes were wide, that dialogue was the last thing he expected that moment. he got enough of Will for today, hell, even for the next few months. he needed some time to process things.

“i,” Will's face fell. damn, what was so important he wanted to tell him? “yeah, Cecil and Lou. they are coming soon. and i'll have you know i'm not wasted, i'm just-”

“a fucking lightweight drinker,” Nico heard another voice from the door. that was Cecil. “seriously, it's not the first time you get one damn drop of beer and go around declaring your undying love for everyone.”

Nico saw Will shifting his weight and trying to close his friend's mouth with his hand, shushing him.

“sorry for the circus, di Angelo,” added Lou. of course, Will talked about _them_. they were Will's best friends, after all. “i hope he didn't say anything he might regret next morning.”

the last line was addressed to Will rather than Nico. what was it about? what could Will have told him? what would he regret?

“you guys, uhm..” Nico tried to sound casual. “you will take him home, right?”

“yes, and then have a very long conversation about his _addictions_ ,” joked Cecil, but he looked really worried. it felt surreal to have the four of them talking.

“okay, do i need to-”

“no need to. i'll show them the way out.” Hazel Levesque, that holy woman came to rescue him. Will and his friends hummed goodbyes and followed Hazel, leaving Nico with Leo, who he didn't notice at first.

“everything is fine?” Leo asked, looking more curious than actually concerned, as if he was watching some sort of dramatic movie.

“yes, just... Will talked to me?” Nico said, not believing his words. he felt his blood boiling. he spent last three years of his life avoiding his former best friend just for Will to straight talked to him? as if nothing ever happened? what was he thinking about Nico?

“hey, hey, overthinker!” he felt Leo hugging him. Nico wanted to shove him off, but his friend's warm embrace was just enough to calm Nico down. “it's all good, buddy. Will is clearly drunk, though i haven’t seen him drinking tonight all, but he won't remember anything tomorrow, that’s for sure.”

“yeah, but i will,” grumbled Nico.

“and that is a problem for tomorrow's Nico. tonight, Nico is having fun with his bestie Leo, the hottest man alive. oh, is that a sunburn on your cheek?” said Leo, as he took a red lipstick out of his pocket (why did he even have one?) and left a small mark on Nico's face. “sorry, man, will try my best not to be that hot!”

“Leo, you are unbearably-”

“amazing friend, right?” he laughed and led him back to the living room.

Nico decided to dance with the others, now that the main occupier of his thoughts was gone and wasn't adding insult to injury. some fun wouldn't hurt him.

and, what a miracle, it turned out to be nice, actually.

maybe he should let himself _just be_ more often.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so,, this finally happened. i posted the first chapter. im really nervous but excited to continue working on this au!!! 
> 
> let me know what you think about all of this, please? feedback is very important for me (and fic writers in general tee hee)


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